Dev. Resources

Posted on Dec 29

9 Scripts Developers Use but Never Mention in Interviews

#beginners #programming #tutorial #career

Behind polished resumes and whiteboard-perfect interviews, most developers rely on a quiet set of scripts that rarely make it into conversation. These scripts aren’t “cheating”—they’re survival tools. They save time, reduce mistakes, and keep projects moving when deadlines are tight.

Here are nine scripts developers use all the time but almost never talk about in interviews.

1. The Project Bootstrap Script

Starting a new project from scratch sounds fun—until you’ve done it 50 times.

Many developers keep a personal script that:

Creates a folder structure
Initializes Git
Installs common dependencies
Sets up linting, formatting, and configs

Instead of spending an hour on setup, they’re coding in minutes. In interviews, this magically becomes “I’m very fast at project setup.”

Instead of typing the same commands repeatedly, developers automate project creation.

Example: Bash script for a Node.js project

#!/bin/bash

PROJECT_NAME=$1

mkdir $PROJECT_NAME && cd $PROJECT_NAME
git init
npm init -y
npm install express dotenv
npm install --save-dev nodemon eslint

mkdir src
touch src/index.js .env .gitignore

echo "node_modules/" >> .gitignore
echo "PORT=3000" >> .env

echo "Project $PROJECT_NAME created successfully 🚀"

One command:

./create-project.sh my-api

In interviews: “I’m very efficient at setting up projects.”

2. The Environment Reset Script

When something breaks and no one knows why, this script quietly saves the day.

It typically:

Deletes cached files
Reinstalls dependencies
Resets environment variables
Rebuilds the project

Developers don’t mention this because it sounds unglamorous—but it solves an incredible number of “mysterious” bugs.

When “it worked yesterday” becomes today’s nightmare.

Example: Reset Node environment

#!/bin/bash

echo "Resetting environment..."
rm -rf node_modules
rm package-lock.json
npm cache clean --force
npm install

echo "Environment reset complete ✅"

This script fixes more bugs than Stack Overflow ever will.

3. The Log Cleaner

Logs are useful… until they’re not.

Many devs have scripts that:

Rotate logs
Delete old files
Filter only relevant error levels

This keeps machines fast and debugging sane. In interviews, it’s framed as “I’m very organized with debugging.”

Logs grow fast. Developers clean them faster.

Example: Linux log cleanup

#!/bin/bash

LOG_DIR="/var/log/myapp"

find $LOG_DIR -type f -name "*.log" -mtime +7 -delete
echo "Old logs removed 🧹"

Quietly prevents disk space disasters.

4. The Database Reset or Seed Script

Nobody manually recreates test data anymore.

These scripts:

Drop and recreate databases
Seed fake users, orders, or content
Restore a known-good state

Without them, testing would be painfully slow. With them, “testing locally” becomes effortless.

Testing without fake data is painful.

Example: PostgreSQL reset

#!/bin/bash

DB_NAME="myapp_dev"

psql -c "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS $DB_NAME;"
psql -c "CREATE DATABASE $DB_NAME;"
psql $DB_NAME < schema.sql
psql $DB_NAME < seed.sql

echo "Database reset & seeded 🗄️"

Example seed (SQL)

INSERT INTO users (name, email)
VALUES
('Test User', 'test@example.com'),
('Admin User', 'admin@example.com');

5. The “Fix My Git Mistakes” Script

Git is powerful—and easy to mess up.

Some developers keep scripts that:

Clean up local branches
Reset commits safely
Rebase or squash in a predictable way

They won’t admit it, but these scripts prevent disasters before they happen.

Git errors happen. Smart devs automate recovery.

Example: Clean branches safely

#!/bin/bash

git fetch --prune
git branch --merged | grep -v "main" | xargs git branch -d
echo "Merged branches cleaned 🌿"

Quick reset script

git reset --hard HEAD~1

In interviews: “I’m very comfortable with Git.”

6. The Deployment Safety Check

Before deploying, many developers run a private script that checks:

Environment variables
Build success
Missing migrations
Version mismatches

It’s an invisible safety net that prevents production panic. In interviews, this becomes “I’m careful with deployments.”

Before pressing deploy, professionals double-check everything.

Example: Pre-deploy script

#!/bin/bash

if [ ! -f ".env" ]; then
  echo "❌ Missing .env file"
  exit 1
fi

npm test || exit 1
npm run build || exit 1

echo "All checks passed. Ready to deploy 🚀"

This script prevents production disasters.

7. The Performance Test Script

Instead of guessing, developers often run scripts that:

Simulate traffic
Measure response times
Track memory or CPU usage

This turns “I think it’s slow” into real data—though interviews usually simplify this to “I optimize performance.”

No guessing. Just data.

Example: Simple load test using Node

import http from "http";

const start = Date.now();

for (let i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
  http.get("http://localhost:3000", res => {
    res.on("data", () => {});
    res.on("end", () => {
      console.log("Request completed");
    });
  });
}

console.log("Time:", Date.now() - start);

Real-world performance > interview theory.

8. The Code Cleanup Script

Formatting and cleanup aren’t always manual.

These scripts:

Auto-format code
Remove unused imports
Enforce style rules

They keep codebases clean with minimal effort, even if developers pretend they just “write clean code naturally.”

Clean code is often automated.

Example: ESLint + Prettier

npx eslint . --fix
npx prettier . --write

package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "clean": "eslint . --fix && prettier . --write"
  }
}

One command:

npm run clean

9. The “Explain It to Me Later” Script

This might be the most honest one.

Some developers use scripts to:

Generate documentation
Summarize APIs
Extract comments or TODOs

They don’t fully understand everything immediately—and that’s okay. The script helps them catch up fast.

Nobody understands everything instantly.

Example: Auto-generate documentation

npx jsdoc src -r -d docs

Example: Extract TODOs

grep -R "TODO" ./src > todos.txt

Developers revisit these when context returns.

Final Thoughts

Interviews often focus on raw knowledge and problem-solving skills, but real-world development is about systems, shortcuts, and safety nets. These scripts don’t make developers lazy—they make them effective.

The best developers aren’t the ones who do everything manually.
They’re the ones who quietly automate what doesn’t need thinking—so they can focus on what does.